The Chapel Hill Town Council endorsed a plan in their meeting Monday night to make Estes Drive more bicycle and pedestrian friendly.

The council endorsed what was presented as alternative two by long range and transportation planning manager David Bonk.

He offered the board  three potential plans, but alternative two was endorsed by the Parks and Recreation Commission before reaching the council.

“Beginning on the south side of the road there is a five-foot sidewalk and three-foot planning strip,” Bonk said while describing alternative two. “Then there is a six-foot wide bicycle lane that is raised above the level of the travel lane.”

Alternative one would have featured two five-foot long bike lanes, separated by a three foot painted buffer, which would be on the road itself.

Alternative three would have featured a 10 foot and 12 foot multiuse path, where pedestrians could ride or walk.

“All three of the alternatives include fairly extensive improvements at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Estes Dr,” he said. “To both accommodate bicycle and pedestrian lanes, but at the same time address some of the congestion at that intersection.”

The project design has cost an estimated $248,000, 80 percent of which has been paid for by the federal government.

Alternative one was the most expensive proposal at an estimated $2.431 million dollars. Alternative two came close to that at $2.285 million and alternative three was the least expensive at nearly $1.952 million.

“A total of 2.338 million is available for construction,” Bonk said. “Eighty percent of that from federal government and 20 percent from the town.”

The council voted unanimously to endorse alternative two.

Bonk said he hopes to have a complete design plan before the council breaks for the summer and expects to have construction underway around this time next year.

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